The future of physical gaming doesn’t look great

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As a kid, I enjoyed trips to Best Buy, GameStop, and the nearby mall so I could browse video games. I loved browsing games and chatting with my friends in the store about upcoming releases. On the lucky days that I got a new game from the store, I enjoyed reading every page of the manual on my way home. Over the years, I built a collection of games that I was proud of.

That was a long time ago. Shortly after graduating from college, I sold my collection of old games and hardware because I wasn’t using them and wanted money to buy other things. (Maybe on weekends.) Starting with the Nintendo Switch in 2017, I started buying games digitally because it was easier to just download stuff, and I wouldn’t have to amass physical game wallets. Now, I don’t own any physical games: my Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam libraries are all digital.

I’m not the only gamer who has moved to mostly digital games. Digital libraries have become increasingly convenient, especially as console makers have made efforts to maintain backward compatibility across generations. Some gamers can’t play physical games at all, with PlayStation and Xbox launching PS5 and Xbox Series consoles with all-digital console options that were cheaper than disc-drive versions. On PC, digital libraries through platforms like Steam have been a reality for some time. Capcom, one of the largest publishers worldwide, I mentioned that A staggering 93 percent of its game sales were for digital copies in its most recent fiscal year — a number it expects to rise to 95.4 percent during the fiscal year. Many of the most popular games are only available digitally, e.g Roblox and fortnite.

For better or worse, video game players overwhelmingly buy and play digital games. But within a week, two industry giants have hammered the nails into the physical gaming coffin – or perhaps even poured concrete into the grave.

On June 24, Rockstar Games is finally here Put a price on Grand Theft Auto VI Ahead of its November 19 release on PS5 and Xbox Series The prices themselves were not unexpected, as Nintendo did wet with $79.99 games for their biggest titles. But what was even more shocking was something buried In Rockstar’s post: The physical copy of the game will not contain a disc, but rather a download code in the box.

The announcement was A A worrying sign of physical games. Selling games as tokens in a box is not a new concept, however GTA VI It will be the biggest game to do so yet. Rockstar’s choice may prompt more publishers to do the same for their future titles. By making the game only available on digital storefronts, players cannot easily share it with a friend or sell the game when they finish it.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that you can’t rely on digital storefronts. Titles can be pulled for things like Licensing or Store closing. This may not be a problem for GTA VIas Rockstar will almost certainly make sure the game is readily available on multiple digital platforms for the foreseeable future, especially if they want to give the game Same type of legs Like 13 years old GTA V. But with digital storefronts, you also have to hope that you don’t get locked out of your account, even accidentally, and lose access to your games. (In 2023, some PlayStation users were unexpectedly banned through no fault of their own, though Sony eventually banned them.) Restore access to their accounts.)

Speaking of PlayStation, just days after the Rockstar news, Sony dropped an even bigger bombshell: it announced that, as of January 2028, it would no longer be making physical discs for any new PlayStation games.

The decision led to widespread criticism online. Sony and PlayStation have been yelled at everywhere across the internet. like My city I mentionedThe PlayStation account did not even publish a new tweet Six days later Her announcement of dropping the discs. Comments section for the famous Sony company 2013 PS4 Games Sharing Announcement Where one person hands a disk to another – an advertisement Made yet Xbox has announced restrictive DRM plans for the Xbox One – and it’s full of new comments criticizing Sony. Heck, Sony itself showed why it killed discs It’s a terrible idea On the same day Disc News said it would close digital stores For PS3 and PS Vita.

Sony ad too It sparked criticism from Retailers and Game conservationists. “This is unfortunate news for those who still prefer to purchase games on physical media, and is certainly a major blow to consumer rights, the resale market, and game creators whose businesses depend on the physical market.” Frank Cifaldi saidExecutive Director of the Video Game History Foundation.

Sony’s statement was clear on why the change was made. “This is a natural trend for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the overall preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs.” Sony said in its announcement. “This transition will enable us to more closely align with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.” The company’s numbers also prove this: In the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2025, Sony I mentioned that The “full game software digital download rate” for games on PS4 and PS5 was 85 percent.

We’ll have to see if Grand Theft Auto VI It will be released physically on November 19 and whether it will be released on disc remains to be seen. Although two major Delayit seems likely that the game will release at least as planned, especially since Rockstar has given the game a price and paid for pre-orders.

We’ll also have to see what Microsoft and Nintendo might do. Xbox hasn’t announced what it has in mind for discs for Project Helix, its next-gen console, however EdgeXbox’s Tom Warren reports that Xbox will “likely soon” stop creating physical discs for Xbox games. However, Warren reports that the company is testing a feature that would let you do just that Digitize your physical gaming collection.

Nintendo will likely stick with physical gaming for a while. according to Its report for the last financial yearDigital games make up 54.6 percent of game sales, so physical games are still a big part of its business. The Switch 2 is also only a year old, and it seems very unlikely that Nintendo will stop making physical games for the hardware that will support it for a long time to come. However, with the Switch 2, Nintendo is giving developers the option to sell game key cards, which are physical carts that you can use Borrow and resell But you don’t actually have the game data. Instead, they act as keys that allow you to download a game to your system.

Toy stores and preservationists will also have to adapt to the fact that physical toys will be more difficult to obtain. Cifaldi noted that museums and archives were already preparing for this kind of future “with the expectation that shelving discs will not be a long-term solution to preserving new games.” But he called on trade groups to come up with solutions to legally preserve digital content for search, an effort being undertaken by the Entertainment Software Association Previously opposed. “The industry needs to come to the table meaningfully on this issue, because requiring museums to download a copy of it Grand Theft Auto VI “And hoping it will continue in 50 years is not a conservation solution,” Cifaldi says.

Sony now has to go through a critical period where it releases new games but deals with pushback from players who want physical discs. While Sony faced sharp backlash after its announcement, it seems unlikely that it will reverse course. It has already been repurposed The last factory to make PlayStation discsAfter all.